A blog by students at the University of Portsmouth

The End of a Term and Year

It’s comforting to end the first term on a high, with coursework done early and feeling like you’ve understood most of what you’ve done so far in the year. Making just the smallest start on a piece of work long before the deadline helps massively I’ve found – later down the line, when considering what work you want to do you can refer back to what you’ve done and have a better idea of what needed to be added on, additional plans and content.

Something that’s been on my mind is to venture beyond my own subject area, for Computing learning a new programming language outside of my studies would be fun, a good use of time and look good on a CV, however many businesses consider applicants for multiple divisions (HR, Tech, Finance) and showing that you’ve decided to do something outside your ‘area of expertise’. Writing (for example, blogs) or really any type of volunteering would be looked favourably upon employers as being well-rounded and a mixture of skills.

If you have the opportunity to, I’d advise everyone to visit a convention/exhibition at some point, if you’re into gaming/anime/comics there’s multiple Comic Cons throughout the year as well as other conventions catering to specific interests. You could also meet famous people/groups you’ve watched/listened to, when I visited MCM Comic Con in London last October I had a great time and met many awesome people.

There’s been some great movies in the past few months, Doctor Strange was another great Marvel origins story, and a return to the Harry Potter Universe with Fantastic Beasts, of course it’s entirely subjective, with some people disliking Hollywood’s big budget films, that said, there’s plenty of independent film-makers creating some quality productions.

Regarding budgeting I think one of the biggest factors in people planning poorly is that if you don’t budget before the time period (e.g. start of term) then you usually slip into some bad buying habits you can’t keep up through the term. With myself, I find having a rough idea of bank balances, rent and expenses I’m going to encounter in the year… making sure I can be stable financially. There’s rarely any need for specialist budgeting software/tools and if you do decide to use something such as MS Excel be mindful of security with bank details and your own account.